


The Antics of Elise

by EliseVanderG



Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts Mystery Event 2018, Other, cross posted on my tumblr, hogwarts mystery event, very light mc/charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-16 00:29:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15425013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliseVanderG/pseuds/EliseVanderG
Summary: There are my submissions to the Hogwarts Mystery Event on tumblr just cross posted here.“No,” she answers first then decides to elaborate. “I know everything on the test. Snape can say he hates me all he wants and give me crap grade in labs but he can’t deny I know my shit on the tests.”





	1. Day 1: MC

**Author's Note:**

> The first few drabbles are in present tense because I tried something new but the others after that will be in my usual writing style. Have fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Below is the link to my gal

Name: Elise Theodosia Vandergouch

 

Birthday: December 3 1972

 

House: Slytherin

 

Nationality: English, African-descent (traced back to Togo), French, Dutch somewhere in there

 

Blood Status: Pureblood

 

Parents: Priscilla Malfoy-Vandergouch & Theodoric Vandergouch

 

Pet(s): Cypress (cat) & Oliver (owl)

 

Patronus: Fox kestrel (Falcon)

 

Favorite Subject: DADA

 

Best Friend(s): Charlie and Penny

 

Boggart: Her decaying corpse (but not death itself)

 

Her Past: Distantly related to the Malfoy family, she and Jacob inherited the famous white-blonde hair from their mother and grew up about 2 hours east of Wiltshire. She and Jacob fought a lot when she was younger but banded together just as often when it came to dealing with ‘outsiders’ to their family. Their father was their primary caretaker growing up as he sat on the Wizengamot while their mother worked as an Ambassador to the French Wizarding government.

 

More Headcannons: 

  * Before Hogwarts, she very much preferred to be left alone with her animals
  * Very sarcastic, to the point she was often in trouble with her parents
  * The Dark Arts interest her very much, not so much practicing as the theory behind it
  * Dreams of becoming a curse breaker or a magical theorist
  * She’s not particularly fond of magical creatures but likes the class well enough
  * Her favorite drink is root beer but butterbeer is an okay substitute
  * She loves sandwiches. Give her all the sandwiches. Now.
  * She met her mother’s second cousin, Lucius, and his family a couple of times and she worries about her baby cousin Draco being surrounded by such Purist rhetoric 
  * She accidentally stabbed Jacob in the leg with his wand when they were fighting shortly before his 3rd year
  * She met Newt Scamander at an event she attended with her mother in between 3rd and 4th year and mentioned Barnaby’s interest in magical creatures. Mr. Scamander later wrote a letter to Barnaby about a possible future internship. Mr. Scamander also spoke to her about life after he was expelled. They still write to one another and Elise promised to keep an eye out for his grandson, Rolf, who was a couple of years younger



 

<http://themostexpensivethingonthemenu.tumblr.com/post/176257363451>


	2. Day 2 part 1: Study Partners/Dates (23 July)

_Study Partner(s)_

Charlie has good grades and he studies when he remembers to or desperately needs a good grade. Penny is either smart enough to not need to study for most classes or the only class she actually cares about is Potions because that’s all Charlie has ever seen her study. Barnaby tries. He...he just tries but CMC is the only class he actually does well enough in that Charlie will be very disappointed if he doesn’t get an O on his OWLs in it. Ben is better at Charms than anything else but he’s pretty average overall. He does not know where Tulip and Tonks have run off to and he’s a little scared to find out. Rowan is on a different level. The girl needs to calm down.

 

Then there’s Elise. She’s drawing on some scratch parchment while they study in the library. Charlie’s a bit jealous of her for not having to really study Transfiguration. She’s got a good memory, a really good friggin’ memory, and her notes are detailed and organized enough as she writes them that she doesn’t need to go back to reread them. He knows she has a Potions test in two periods but she seems unconcerned with it as she continues to doodle.

 

“Aren’t you going to study for Potions?” Ben finally gets himself to ask. Elise looks up from her position slouched over the table. The sleeves of her robes have put imprints on her tanned cheek.

 

“No,” she answers first then decides to elaborate. “I know everything on the test. Snape can say he hates me all he wants and give me crap grade in labs but he can’t deny I know my shit on the tests.”

 

“It’s true, she always gets O’s on her tests,” Rowan pipes up. “He loves to fail her in lab though.”

 

“The knob,” Elise mutters and goes back to doodling.


	3. Day 2 part 2: Study Partners/Dates (23 July)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA Charlie suffers some adorable torture.

_Study Date_

 

Charlie, get a grip! Charlie left his dorm and made his way to the courtyard to meet up with Elise so they could go over their CMC study guide. When he gets there, he notices that they’re both out of uniform and Elise is wearing those gods-damned boots again. They’re a weakness for him.

 

“Hey Charlie,” Elise looks up from her book in her lap. It’s a Muggle piece of fiction...something about bringing back a dead kid and an evil cat. She said it wasn’t about necromancy but it sounds like necromancy and Charlie’s not sure how a Muggle could do it. “I thought we could go to Hogsmeade to study actually. Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah that sounds great!” It sounds horrible, Charlie thinks. They will have to walk there and he will have to watch her ridiculously long legs in those ridiculous boots. Elise stands, brushes off her pants, and slips the book into her bag before they set out. His eyes keep going down towards her legs. Elise is tall for her age and she’s got another couple of years which means her legs will become even longer.

 

Bill teases him mercilessly on this recent awakening of his. Elise is his friend, he can’t just start liking her out of nowhere. Bill told him before he left that day that she liked him too. Charlie tries to see it and he kind of can. They go to Hogsmeade a lot and she loves to fly into the Forest with him. Maybe Bill’s onto something after all.

 

When they get to the Three Broomsticks, Elise heads for the booth in the back that’s really for like eight people. She dumps her things on the table, orders two butterbeers that she promptly enlarges despite Rosmerta’s disapproving stare and plops her caramel flavored foam onto Charlie’s because he really loves it.

 

“Let’s get started. I know for sure that kneazles will be on this test.”

 

“Date me?” His voice cracks and he wants to die.

 

Elise jumps a bit at his outburst and her golden eyes are wide.

 

“This isn’t a date!?”

 

Charlie scrambles to recover. “It is now. Say it is now.”

 

“You’re usually far more composed than this,” her lips twist upwards and Charlie kind of hates her and really friggin’ loves her for teasing him like this.


	4. Day 3: Great Hall (24 July)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh present tense writing is so uncomfortable for me so after this it's back to past tense!

There are two loud bangs from both sides of the Great Hall. Everyone’s attention is divided between the two noises. On one side, there’s Tonks sprawled on the floor by Hufflepuff with her books and food all over her, the table, and nearby students. On the other side, at Slytherin, there’s Elise  who’s tangled up in Rowan, Barnaby, a lost looking 2nd year.

 

“The both of you are walking disasters,” Merula sneers as she passes Elise, making sure to angle her bag to hit her. Elise scowls heavily and rights herself while Barnaby yells across everyone to ask if Tonks is okay.

 

“I’m good!” Tonks cheers and Penny waves her wand almost lazily to clean up the disaster the pink-haired girl created. “That was a might tumble there, you okay Elise?”

 

“’M fine,” Elise calls out but she’s still glaring at Merula.

 

A couple of days later, it’s breakfast and Elise is slowly turning her porridge into a solid mass with the amount of sugar she’s stirring in. Barnaby is very concerned and whispers to Rowan about their friend’s sugar intake.

 

“Maybe she’ll get sugar high and do something stupid, like fall from the astronomy tower,” Merula laughs from her spot down the table and normally that would get some reaction out of Elise but she just stays quiet. Merula also notices the lack of reaction and well...that just won’t do. The witch nudges Ismelda and goes to get up, only to meet an unexpected resistance. She tries again, bracing both hands on the table and trying to stand, but she’s stuck. “W-what is this!?” She growls and tries to yank up again. Finally it works after the fourth or so time and by now everyone’s staring at her.

 

There’s the jarring sound of fabric ripping and then Merula tumbles backwards off the bench with a scream. Her robe is destroyed and her skirt is gathered around her hips, flashing everyone. Merula scrambles upwards with a frustrated scream.

 

“VANDERGOUCH! I KNOW THIS WAS YOU!”

 

Elise looks up, face completely innocent and asks calmly, “What exactly did I do then?”

 

“You cast some spell or something!” She whirls around to see Professor Snape right next to her. “Professor!” Merula steps back in surprise. “Vandergouch did something to my seat to purposefully embarrass me!”

 

“I did not,” Elise sets her jaw stubbornly. “When would I have done it? My wand’s been in my bag all this time.”

 

“Then I’m sure you would not object to me proving that, would you Miss Vandergouch?” Snape drawls and Elise has to fight to not narrow her eyes at him. He pulls his own wand out and goes to Merula’s seat, waving it and muttering something under his breath. If anything, his usual scowl deepens at the results. “There was no spell cast, Miss Snyde.” He says no more and Merula fumes even more.

 

“I know you did something,” she growls at Elise and runs out the Hall to fix her uniform. Once she and Ismelda are gone, Ben runs up to Elise.

 

“Is that what you wanted my crazy glue for? You said you had to fix something!” He whispers frantically at her, puppy dog eyes in full effect. Elise cracks a smile.

 

“I fixed how a high a pedestal Merula holds herself on. Can’t take her seriously anymore with those hideous neon green panties, now can we?”


	5. Day 4: New Prefects (25 July)

Elise hummed to herself and Rowan twitched. What felt like seconds passed before Elise hummed again. Rowan sighed and rolled her eyes, all but throwing her work onto her pillows. 

 

“What is it now, Elise?”

 

“Nothing,” she said airily but continued to hum and use her wand to slowly carve a figure out of a bar of soap she stole from the boy’s bathroom. Rowan didn’t know how she did it, there were spells designed to stop both sexes from creeping where they shouldn’t be. 

 

“Obviously it is  _something_  if you’ve been humming and carving soap figurines,” Rowan narrowed her eyes suddenly. “You’re plotting something.”

 

Elise huffed and put down her project. “Alexander Highman was named prefect.”

 

“You’re not still hung up over first year, are you?”

 

“And every year since,” Elise clenched her hands into fists. “I can take Merula insulting me and even Jacob but him? And he made prefect with his holier-than-thou attitude! It’s completely unacceptable.”

 

“Elise don’t try anything rash. Honestly it’s a miracle we’ve not been expelled and made it as far as we have.” There was a moment of silence between the two as Elise smiled at Rowan. Everything she did, Rowan always had her back. It would’ve pained her greatly but she knew Rowan would’ve stood up and said she deserved to be expelled to if Dumbledore had taken such action.  

 

“I don’t want to kill the bloody idiot…just maim him a bit.”

 

Rowan muttered something like ‘give me strength’ and waved at her best friend to continue. Elise opted to ignore that remark.

 

“I was thinking we can have a little shopping spree at Zonko’s next time we go to Hogsmeade,” Elise began to say when someone knocked on the door to their room. Elise scrambled out of the bed and had to catch herself on the bed posts before she got to the door. 

 

While Highman was their male prefect, their female prefect was Alanna Trebond. She was nearly a head shorter than Elise with hair so red she could have been a Weasley. Her tongue was as sharp as a blade and she was known to make the students from other houses cry.

 

“Hey you two,” she pushed Elise into the room and locked the door with a swish of her wand. 

 

“How can we help you, Alanna?” Rowan greeted her politely, sharing wide eye looks with Elise. 

 

“I know you don’t get along with Alex, and you probably want to get back at him after that house meeting we just had.” Even Rowan winced at the mention of yesterday’s meeting. Every single time he spoke he managed to insult Elise and remind her that, as prefect, he could give or take points. If Elise angered him, he’d take points away and turn the rest of the house against her. Rowan knew her best friend had been absolutely seething at the end of it. Alanna grimaced. “I hate to admit the little prick is right but he is this time around. You can’t go after him while he’s prefect. The Gryffindors are really ramping up their efforts this year to win the Cup after we’ve won it so many times.”

 

“Well you didn’t need to say all that,” Elise cut in bitterly. Rowan slapped a hand to her face. Both girls were known for their sharp tongues and hotheaded attitudes. Alanna’s eyes sharpened to slits. 

 

“Listen here, little missy,” Alanna began.

 

“If you’ve got something useful to say, say it,” Elise raised her chin slightly and Alanna breathed through her nose harshly. 

 

“You want to get back at Alex? I can’t help you with that. I  _can_ , however, turn a blind eye. If you, for instance, go get a few dung bombs and then a couple of days later, Alex’s dorm suddenly smells like shite, well, surely it was just a coincidence.”

 

“What’s in it for you?” Rowan stood up, intrigued.

 

“I’m sure you know of my own past,” Alanna waved a hand flippantly. “The smug little rat thinks he can keep insulting me. Vandergouch, you’re the only one here with big enough bollocks to get him back in a way that’ll hurt. Not to mention if you ever did get expelled, cousin Lucy will probably raise hell about it.”

 

Rowan did know Alanna’s past. She was a very rare Muggleborn in Slytherin and some people, usually headed by Alex, never let her forget it. Their families raised a big stink over the summer about having her be prefect of such a Pure Blood house. Rowan also knew that Alanna was right about ‘cousin Lucy’. If Dumbledore did try to expel Elise, her mother and her family, the Malfoys would probably descend not just on the school but on Alex’s family to get revenge. 

 

Alanna nodded, seemingly to herself, and made her way back to the door. “I’m just saying,” she began as she unlocked and opened it, “if someone tries to take points  _unreasonably_ , I’ll try to  _reason_  with them.”

 

Elise followed her to the door with a diabolical gleam in her eyes. “Of course, Alanna, thank you for coming and assuring us that you’ll be a  _model_ prefect.” 

 

The two witches nodded at each other once more and Elise went back to her bed after closing and locking the door once more.

 

“We’re  _definitely_  getting expelled this year!” Rowan wailed.

 

***Who knows what series I took Alanna from?


	6. Day 5: Jacob (26 July)

Elise messed with the bow on her dress and pouted slightly. The material was heavy and itchy but her mother insisted it was the only thing appropriate for someone of their status to wear. She sighed and went to go find Jacob. Maybe he’d play with her until the other guests arrived. She’d already had to stand through Great Uncle Abraxus’s lecture on how to be a proper Malfoy witch and Cousin Lucius had stood by nodding so often she thought his head would pop clean off.

Jacob was in the gardens petting one of the peacocks. At Malfoy Manor there were albino ones but Chatham Hall had regular peacocks with bright vibrant tails.

“Jacob!” Elise smiled and ran over to him, punching him in the arm.

“Ow, you prat,” he shoved her and she laughed and shoved him back. The peacock got miffed that Jacob’s attention was elsewhere and nipped him. “Ow! You’re a prat too,” he glared at the bird but went back to petting it. Elise joined him and at some point they started chasing the birds in their formal robes.

“Jacob, Elise, what in Merlin’s knickers are you doing?” Their father grabbed them by the scruffs of their robes. Jacob winked at his sister and Elise slapped her hands over her mouth to muffle her giggles. “You’re covered in feathers and your shoes are caked in dung, I can’t believe this.” Theodoric was laughing though and marched them inside. “I can spell your clothes clean but it won’t get rid of the smell. Up to your rooms.”

“Yes sir,” the siblings giggled to one another and made their way past the ballroom to the private wing of the manor. There was a woman that Elise recognized as Walburga Black right by the entrance. She gave them a look of such disdain Elise recoiled. With a sniff she turned into the ballroom.

“Come on,” Jacob’s voice was as tight as his grip on her hand. “Let’s change.”

“What’s her problem?”

“She can’t let kids be kids,” he snorted in derision. “That’s why she drove one son to the Potters and another to his death.”

\--

Elise’s eyes snapped open and she bit her lip, burying her face into her pillows. With a sigh and dry eyes, she got up and shuffled out of the bedroom to the bathroom to wash up and then made her way to the common room. Living in the dorms was a bit of a mixed bag. It was great having friends around every day but her favorite places were often taken when she wanted to sit during the day. But now, the couches were clear and she curled up on the one closest to the fire. She stared at the hearth, at the dying embers in between the lumps of coal, chunks of wood, and piles of ash. Somewhere in there was an ember, a sign of life, of energy.

Somewhere out there was Jacob. Hidden under ash and coal and wood, he was an ember and she would find him. She had to.

Elise narrowed her eyes at the fire, looking at the dimly glowing spots of red. She would find him, would bring him back alive and well. If he was hurt she would heal him. She would breathe life, energy, _fire_ back into him. She focused on that thought, letting her mind and soul harden and sharpen in renewed determination.

She jumped when the fireplace suddenly roared to life, the small embers she was focusing on erupting into flames that licked at the stone surround. Elise quickly looked around to see if someone had lit it for her but she was alone. She looked back at the fire in awe before a new wave of resolve washed over her. She was strong enough to do whatever she put her mind to.

She would find Jacob.


	7. Day 6: Potions (27 July)

Five years later and Snape finally got her.

Elise sighed as she scrubbed the copper cauldron, shifting her weight slightly. Snape was hovering behind her making sure she did it right and muttering insults the entire time. There were only so many times she could roll her eyes without giving herself a headache.

Elise rinsed out the cauldron and set it on a hanging rack to dry then turned to face her professor with an expectant look on her face. He remained silent so she raised her brows in question.

“Well,” she trailed off. “You’ve got five years of detention to make up for. Do your worst.”

“There are crates of ingredients that need to be shelved,” he nodded to it and then sat down at one of the tables to review work like he should’ve been in the first place. Elise did not _stomp_ over to the crate technically, but it was a near thing. She began to levitate the ingredients that could be levitated and carried the rest over to the correct shelves.

“I wasn’t aware you knew which ingredients could be magically contaminated,” came his begrudging voice.

“The compliment really hurt you, didn’t it?” Elise replied lightly and turned the vials so the label was facing the room fully. “Penny’s a great help in potions considering when she teaches, half her words aren’t insults.”

“Miss Vandergouch,” he began in a warning tone and Elise snickered to herself. “Unless you want more detention with me, silence is appreciated.”

“You say that but I don’t think you’d want to subject yourself to my presence more than you have to as you see me enough in class and as my head of house. Maybe that’s why it’s taken you five years to give me detention.”

“Har, har,” Snape drawled and leveled her with a flat look. “You are hilarious, truly. I could take house points if that’s what you prefer.”

“Oh no not the house points,” she waved her hands in front of her and put on a look of exaggerated horror. “If I lose house points I’ll never become a curse breaker! They determine my whole future!” This time Snape actually did snort in amusement and his exhale was loud and staggered. “Oh my gods, Merlin’s beard did you just chuckle under your breath?” Elise’s eyes were wide. “Holy hell, mate, you did!”

The Potions professor tried to cover it up with a scowl but Elise slithered up to him and waggled her brows.

“You can laugh,” she said in a voice so weird that Snape couldn’t help the burst of laughter. “You have _feelings_ , Professor! I’ve got to go to the Prophet, not Skeeter the skank though.”

“Such language, Miss Vandergouch,” he began to scold her and she wagged a finger at him.

“No, no, we’re having a moment, Professor. We’re _bonding_.”

He looked justifiably horrified.


	8. Day 7: Free Day (July 28)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I TOTALLY FORGOT TO POST THIS HERE WHOOPS SORRY GUYS

_Dear Mr. Newt,_

 

_Thank you for the pictures from your most recent trip to Madagascar. The lemurs were absolutely beautiful and I love how much they loved Ms. Tina! I wish you could’ve taken a few of them home so I could pet them. Alas, they belong where they are._

_When will you be arriving to speak at the Conservation Symposium exactly? Father’s on board with having you over for dinner before it begins; I do hope you’ll come. Father’s already working with his staff to draft a new bill concerning the regulation of class 4 magical creatures thanks to your speech in Hamburg. He wants to pick your brain on what else the bill could address before he presents it to the committee for approval to head to the floor. I want you over simply to catch up and I hope Ms. Tina will come with you on this trip. My parents were both so disappointed she wasn’t able to get away from MACUSA in time to join you._

_I spoke to Rolf many times since your last letter. He seems to be adjusting well to his classes and I’m sure you’re proud he’s in Ravenclaw. He’s already making plans to make the Quidditch team next year and one my year mates, Andre, is helping him practice after class. He’s also in Ravenclaw. He’s a little bit shy elsewhere and besides from Andre and myself I haven’t really noticed him making friends. I gave him some advice on connecting to others but I think he might take more after you than Mr. Brian, ha!_

_Get back to me soon about when you’ll be back in Britain so we can arrange that dinner! We’ve got tons to catch up on._

_Much love from your favorite ‘granddaughter’,_

_Elise_

 

\--

 

“Look at all those chickens!”

 

“Teddy…honey, no,” Elise walked up to the boy and ran a tanned hand through his pale pink hair. “Those are baby griffons.” A chuckle sounded from her left and she turned to the man standing there.

 

His auburn hair had gone white some years ago but he still had the awkward boyish charm about him. Elise smiled and hugged him tightly.

 

“Mr. Newt, a pleasure to see you again,” Elisa grinned and turned back to the two curious children. “This is Teddy, Tonks’s son. And over here we have Victoire, Bill’s daughter. They were very excited to meet some of the animals here.”

 

‘Here’ was the Scamander Preserve that housed a plethora of magical fauna. Little Teddy had just turned five and Andromeda allowed Elise to take him for her monthly visit to Newt. She thought to invite Teddy after Bill asked if she wouldn't mind watching her goddaughter for the day. 

 

“Pleasure’s mine,” Newt gave her a quick smile and fiddled with his pocket watch. Elise put him out of his misery. 

 

“I’ll see if Ms. Tina needs help with the tea. You can show the kids the bowtruckles.”

 

“I can do that,” He smiled broadly at that and ushered the kids off to a cluster of wiggentrees, voice rising and falling in his excitement. Elise watched them go for a moment before she went inside the house. Instantly she picked up on the voices of Ms. Tina, Rolf, and his girlfriend Luna whom she’d met many times before and quite liked.

 

“Hello? ‘Tis I, your favorite Scamander,” Elise called as she went into the sitting room with her arms flung wide open.

 

“Elise,” Luna rushed to hug her. “We’ve been waiting for you!”

 

“Yes well two tots are quite the hassle to coordinate with.”

 

“You brought Victoire?”

 

“And Teddy,” Elise confirmed. “They’re learning about bowtruckles right now so we’ll see them probably tomorrow, knowing Mr. Newt,” she winked at Ms. Tina and the older woman laughed at her antics.

 

“How’s Charlie doing?” Rolf asked from her other side, an arm still around her shoulders. 

 

“He’d good, recovering from that incident with the Peruvian ankle-biters. He’s got another two weeks off his feet and I thought I’d punish him by bringing him home to his mother for that time.” Rolf winced.

 

“Aye, Molly’s going to literally smother him.”

 

“He’ll wiggle free somehow.”

 

“You’ve got to be nicer to your fiancé,” Rolf shook his head but guided her to a seat where she then served everyone. 

 

“I-I’m plenty nice to him! No one told him to nearly lose a foot dealing with a nest of those scaled mosquitos,” Elise sputtered. “Ms. Tina, honestly, this boy’s tongue has gotten far too sharp. Remember when he always stuttered?”

 

“Just like his father and grandfather. It must be a Scamander thing,” Ms. Tina leaned back in her seat and smirked at her grandson. 

 

Rolf began to protest loudly at the teasing, much to Luna’s amusement. When the tea had gone long cold despite the charms, Newt and the kids returned. They were slightly tanned and smelled of all sorts of animals but they crawled into Elise’s lap and fell asleep in the middle of recounting all that they learned.

 

Elise held them tighter and kissed each of their heads, smiling softly.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr at themostexpensivethingonthemenu, especially if you want to see what my character looks like!


End file.
